Wonders of Nature You May Not Have Heard of

∷李殊 选编 经纬 注

Life will inevitably turn dull and tedious once we lose the ability to wonder.1.inevitably： 不可避免地，无法逃避地；dull： 枯燥无味的，无趣的；tedious： 冗长乏味的，沉闷的。However, with such a load of beauty in the world, this scenario is, luckily, a no-go.2. 然而，幸运的是，世间美景之众多，这种我们失去惊叹能力的情况是不可能发生的。a load of： 许多，大量；scenario： 事态，局面；no-go： 不可能的，不可行的。Have a look at some of the lesser known natural wonders and let yourself be flooded with awe.3. be flooded with： 被……淹没，被……充满；awe：惊叹，惊奇。

纳米布－诺克卢福国家公园的沙漠因为含铁量高，被氧化后形成氧化铁，导致沙漠变成了红色。红沙漠最美丽的时刻是在日出与日落。

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia

纳米布—诺克卢福国家公园的死亡谷

The Namib-Naukluft National Park is a national park of Namibia encompassing part of the Namib Desert (considered the world’s oldest desert) and the Naukluft mountain range.4. encompass： 包括，包含；mountain range： 山脉，山岳地带。With an overall area of 49,768km2. 然而，幸运的是，世间美景之众多，这种我们失去惊叹能力的情况是不可能发生的。a load of： 许多，大量；scenario： 事态，局面；no-go： 不可能的，不可行的。, the Namib-Naukluft is the largest game park5. game park： 自然动物保护区，禁猎区。in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The most well-known area of the park is Sossusvlei6. Sossusvlei： 苏索斯维利盐滩，是纳米布-诺克卢福国家公园中最著名的景点，以其周边的红沙漠而闻名。, which is the main visitor attraction in Namibia.

A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid7. hyper-arid： 不毛之地，超级荒芜之地。region, including snakes, geckos (壁虎),unusual insects, hyenas (鬣狗), gemsboks (好望角大羚羊) and jackals (胡狼). More moisture comes in as a fog off the Atlantic Ocean then falls as rain, with the average 106 millimeters of rainfall per year concentrated in the months of February and April.8. 大西洋上的雾飘来，随即形成降雨，给这里带来了更多的水分。此处降雨集中在每年的2月到4月之间，年均降雨量为106毫米。moisture： 水分，降雨量；rainfall： 降雨量，降水量。

自然界孕育并创造了无数壮丽的奇观，给我们惊喜，给我们震撼；也正是有了这些各式各样的奇观奇景，这个世界才如此之美。让我们放下手中的工作，暂时逃离喧闹的城市，与大自然来个“亲密接触”吧！

The winds that bring in the fog are also responsible for creating the park’s towering sand dunes, whose burnt orange color is a sign of their age.9. towering： 极高的，高耸的；sand dune： 沙丘；burnt： 焦褐色的，深褐色的。The orange color develops over time as iron in the sand is oxidized, like rusty metal; the older the dune, the brighter the color.10. 随着沙中的铁被氧化，橘红的颜色会越变越深，就像生了锈的金属；沙丘的年龄越大，颜色也就越亮。oxidize：使氧化，使生锈；rusty： 生锈的。

These dunes are the tallest in the world, in places rising more than 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) above the desert floor. The dunes taper off11. taper off： 逐渐变细，逐渐变少。near the coast, and lagoons (咸水湖), wetlands (湿地), and mud flats (泥滩) located along the shore attract hundreds of thousands of birds.

The park has some of the most unusual wildlife and nature reserves12. reserve： 自然保护区。in the world.It’s an area larger than Switzerland (瑞士), roughly the size of the US states New Hampshire (新罕布什尔州) and Vermont(佛蒙特州) combined. The region is characterized by high, isolated inselbergs and kopjes (the Afrikaans term for rocky outcrops), made up of dramatic blood red granites, rich in feldspars and sandstone.13. inselberg： 岛山，孤山；kopje： （南非的）小山；Afrikaans：南非荷兰语的；outcrop： 露出地面的岩层；granite： 花岗岩，花岗石；feldspar： 长石，地壳中最重要的造岩成分，比例达到60%；sandstone： 砂岩，主要由砂粒胶结而成的。砂岩的颜色和成分有关，最常见的是棕色、红色、灰色和白色。

大蓝洞（Great Blue Hole），是全世界最大的水下洞穴。现今的大蓝洞是一个闻名遐迩的潜水胜地。

Great Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize

伯利兹灯塔礁的大蓝洞

Around a quarter of a mile (400m) wide,480 feet (145 m) deep, and peeping from the Caribbean Sea like a giant eye, the mesmerizing Great Blue Hole is by far the most unusual dive site in the world.14. Caribbean Sea： 加勒比海；mesmerizing： 有魅力的，迷人的；dive site： 潜水地点，潜水胜地。Briskly shoals of fish, enormous turtles and reef sharks regularly keep scuba divers company.15. briskly： 活泼地，生机勃勃地；shoals of： 许多的；reef shark： 礁鲨；scuba diver： 带水肺的潜水员，指潜水员自行携带水下呼吸系统所进行的潜水活动。After recommendation of such an experienced man as Cousteau16. Cousteau： 库斯托，即雅克-伊夫·库斯托（1910—1997），法国海军军官、探险家、及生态学家，亦是水肺的发明者之一。, Great Blue Hole turned into popular diving site. As there is no dry land of signi ficant size at Great Blue Hole, the diving trip here requires a full-day trip with local operators.

Divers though often don’t meet their expectations—while they expect to see countless weird sea organisms in such an extraordinary location, they see just incredibly large hole with occasional larger fish,including numerous sharks.17. 但潜水者们往往会感到失望——那是因为他们期望能够在这个特别的地方看到不计其数的、奇形怪状的海底生物，而实际上他们只会看到一个异常大的洞穴，偶尔游弋着一些体形较大的鱼（包括数不清的鲨鱼）。The true beauty here lies in this unique geological formation itself and the numerous riddles and answers about the past of Earth hidden here.18. geological formation： 地质构造；riddle： 谜，难解的问题。

Rather late here was created marine protected area and around this same time in 1996 Great Blue Hole was included in UNESCO World Heritage Site list as a part of“Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System”.19. marine protected area： 海洋保护区；UNESCO World Heritage Site：世界遗产，一项由联合国支持、联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）负责执行的国际公约，以保存对全世界人类都具有杰出普遍性价值的自然或文化处所为目的。世界遗产分为自然遗产、文化遗产和复合遗产三大类；Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System： 伯利兹堡礁保护区，是世界上最发达的生态系统之一，拥有最重要及显著的多元性生物自然生态栖息地。

The hypnotizing sand heaps of Erg Chebbi, near a small village of Merzouga,altogether span an area of 22 kilometers and host a number of activities for adventure seeking travelers.20. hypnotizing： 令人着迷的；sand heap： 沙丘，沙堆；span： 跨越；host： 主办（宴会或活动等）。Take a walk along the ridge, traverse the orange sands on a camel’s back, slide down the 150 m high dunes, spend the night by the camp fire and let the morning greet you with the magic of a sunrise.21. ridge： 脊，隆起；traverse：横过，横越；slide： 滑，滑行。

Erg Chebbi is one of Morocco’s two Saharanergs—large dunes formed by wind-blown sand. The other is Erg Chigaga (希嘎丘) near M’hamid (麦哈米德).

The dunes of Erg Chebbi reach a height of up to 150 meters and altogether spans an area of 22 kilometers from north to south and up to 5-10 kilometers from east to west.

Merzouga, the local tourist center, is located near the edge of the dunes. A number of companies offer camel trips from Merzouga and into the desert, taking tourists on overnight trips several kilometers into Erg Chebbi.

During the warmest part of the year, Moroccans come to Erg Chebbi to be buried neck-deep in the hot sand for a few minutes at a time. This is considered to be a treatment for rheumatism22. rheumatism： 风湿病。.

Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

阿根廷冰川国家公园的莫雷诺冰川

Patagonia is frequently mentioned among the world’s most magical spots and watching the breathtaking ice theater of Los Glaciares National Park, one can hardly wonder why.23. Patagonia： 巴塔哥尼亚，一般是指南美洲安第斯山脉以东，科罗拉多河以南（或以南纬40度为界）的地区，主要位在阿根廷境内，小部分则属于智利；ice theater：冰上芭蕾。With a 5 km long front line and a height of over 70 meters above the level of the water, Perito Moreno allows for a unique trekking24. trekking： 徒步旅行。experience. Besides that, numerous wooden walkways give a clear overhead view of the bluish ice masses advancing over Lago Argentino.25. walkway： 通道，人行道；overhead view： 俯视，鸟瞰景观；ice mass：大块的浮冰；Lago Argentino： 阿根廷湖，位于冰川国家公园内，是阿根廷境内面积最大的淡水湖。

Due to its size and accessibility26. accessibility： 易于接近或得到。, Perito Moreno is one of the major tourist attractions in southern Patagonia. It is less than two hours by bus from El Calafate (埃尔卡拉法特镇), and many tour companies run daily visits. A large visitor centre at the site features a walking circuit which allows visitors to view the southern flank and the east facing edge of the glacier.27. circuit： 环道，环形； flank： 侧面，侧翼。